Table of Contents

Contributors
Part 1: Historical and Philosophical Background
1. Training the Mind: First Steps in a Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Neuroscientific Research, Zara Houshmound et al.
2. The Thing Known or the Knowing Eye? Conceiving Compassion between Science and Buddhism, Anne Harrington
3. Is Compassion an Emotion? A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Mental Typologies, Georges Dreyfus
4. Kindness and Cruelty in Evolution, Elliott Sober
5. Understanding Our Fundamental Nature, His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Dialogues, Part 1: Fundamental Questions
Part 2: Social, Behavioral, and Biological Explorations of Altruism, Compassion, and Related Constructs
6. Toward a Biology of Positive Affect and Compassion, Richard Davidson
7. Empathy-Related Emotional Responses, Altruism, and Their Socialization, Nancy Eisenberg
8. Emergency Helping, Genocidal Violence, and the Evolution of Responsibility and Altruism, Ervin Staub
9. Altruism in Competitive Environments, Robert H. Frank
Dialogues, Part 2: Pragmatic Extensions and Applications
Appendix: About the Mind and Life Institute
Index